Red Orb
by Allin Aspire
Summary: Sorceress LIVES!! in FF7 world.
1. Laboratory

Red Orb ****

Red Orb

__

Allin Aspire

¡¡

Type: crossover FF7 X FF8

Author¡¯s note: This is my first time writing about FF8. And for one thing, I haven¡¯t even play the game. So if there¡¯s some information that¡¯s not true, just bare with it, please. This fiction is going to take place in FF7 world with some of FF8 concepts. Please enjoy the story and PLEASE leave me some comments!!

Oh, and one more thing for you guys to keep in mine is that I made the setting that FF8 world takes place about thousand years before FF7 world. Kinda doesn¡¯t make sense, but please bare with it. And bare with me for keep asking. Okay, I¡¯ll shut up. Go ahead and read and please review!

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Chapter 1.

Laboratory

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¡¡

Squall.

Where are you?

I feel... so cold...

Help me, Squall...

Help... ...

¡¡

¡°Hey, Shera! You gotta rest for a #$% bit! Or you are gonna #%$& collapse!¡±

Cid¡¯s loud voice and his usual course language rang inside of Shera¡¯s laboratory.

¡°Thank you for your concern, Cid, but...¡±

¡°AND I DON¡¯T WANNA %#^&*^#$ CARRY YOU TO THE HOSPITAL, AGAIN!!¡±

¡°Am I that heavy?¡± Shera asked him as she turn to face him with her warm smile.

¡°No... It¡¯s just that... uh... I¡¯m ^%*#% worried sick whenever that happens to you.¡±

Shera smiled warmly and turns her back to her work, without saying anything.

¡°SHERA!!! You... ah! $%&, %&#%$!!!!! $%#$%#$.... stubborn ~ $%&^&^!!!¡±

Hearing Cid¡¯s extremely course words like as if she¡¯s listening to a baby¡¯s whining, she chided him.

¡°Just a bit longer, Cid. It¡¯s almost done.¡±

¡°What kind of %&*^& job did Shinra give to ya again?

¡°They didn¡¯t give me this job. I suggested it to them. You know that I¡¯m their top scientist, since Hojo¡¯s gone. People say he was mad, and maybe he was, but he was a great scientist. You have to give him a credit for that at least.¡±

¡°Whatever you say, Shera. Anyway, what are you working on?¡±

¡°Creating a summon.¡± 

She answered his question as simply as it can get. And her very simple answer startled Cid.

¡°Creating a SUMMON?! Is that even possible?¡±

¡°Well, that¡¯s what I want to find out. My crew and I spent last eight month developing this project and we dedicated entirely to this, since there aren¡¯t anymore summons left in the world. I don¡¯t have time to tell you every single detail... Ah, here. Read this. And give me twenty more minutes, okay?¡±

¡°Alright, Shera...¡± Cid grumbled that his wife wouldn¡¯t listen to a word he say, and he made mental note to himself that when this project is done, he¡¯ll kidnap - as if that make sense - her and take her to some place she can rest without being worried about her work. He might be rough and course on the outside, but he¡¯s really caring person inside. He tries to hide it with his strange manner of the speech, but Shera sees right through it. After all, she¡¯s his wife.

Meanwhile, Cid couldn¡¯t stand that short twenty minutes, just sitting in a chair waiting for her to finish her work. So he just ended up picking that file Shera had given him, and he read the document inside.

[ _After The Avalanche was able to stop Sephiroth and stopped the meteor from falling, humans living on this land rejoiced. However, the earth was deeply wounded partially by Jenova, and partially by human who used up mako without even caring about it. Earth desperately needed to restore its power. Shinra with its new president, Cloud Strife, wanted make up for its past mistakes. So Shera Highwind, the top scientist of Shinra, appointed by the president himself proceed the project ¡°Revival¡±. She suggested that with materia, people could artificially make the earth recover faster, since materia forms when mako is highly concentrated and left alone for a long while. Especially summon materia contains even greater power than the ordinary ones. Therefore, all the summon materia/mastered materia were collected from all over the world, and the power of materia and Mrs. Highwind¡¯s work was able to restore our earth back to normal and stable for more than a few thousand generation. However, after project ¡°Revival¡± summon materia became a rare item. Although, there are reports that earth started to reproduce materia once again, recently, in very slow rate. It seems that ¡°materia¡± culture we had before meteor won¡¯t be able to be restored for a long time, but our exchange with our planet was worth its price and more. ]_

Cid read the entire thing in boredom, but reading it made him even more bored.

¡°What kind of person write this kind of $%#?! He drags on and on and on... This is $&#*&^!!!¡±

¡°Cid! Come on over here! You¡¯ve got to see this!¡±

Shera¡¯s excited call caught his attention, and he ran to where her voice came from.

¡°Hey, what¡¯s going on?¡± He had no idea what was so exciting about.

¡°It¡¯s almost done! Look at that test tubes over there.¡±

She pointed with the tip of her pen that barely missed the person who was standing beside her. She was very excited like a kid in the Christmas morning.

He looked at the place she pointed. There were giant test tubes with the mako glowing in bright green. And there were some creature-like things in it.

¡°Shera? What is the gooey stuff that¡¯s swarming around everywhere in the test tube?¡±

¡°I¡¯m glad you asked. It¡¯s an artificial organic substance made purely out of mako and DNA data of the summons that existed.¡± Shera answered with such an enthusiasm. But Cid won¡¯t probably understand the half of the things she says.

¡°Look now. There¡¯s fire element summon, Ifrit. There¡¯s Shiva, Bahamut, and Leviathan. And...¡±

She kept on poking at the mid-air and explained each summon, which he, too, knew. He walked close to the test tube which had Ifrit in it, and there was dull red stone placed in the middle of manual control panel. When Ifrit completed its form, it glowed with colour of mako and disappeared in to the dull stone. Then the dull red orb finally shined with its own living crimson light.

¡°Wha... I guess this one is done, huh?¡± Cid asked in awe.

¡°Yes, but that¡¯s not all. Here¡¯s the side project I had it running along side with Project Revival ? S. I was almost certain that I could revive summon. But this project was somewhat ? more challenging. I spent more or my time into this that Revival ? S, and my expectation was greater, too. Now, this project is almost complete.¡± Shera¡¯s speeches were revealing her love to the science, and her job. And whenever she talked like this, Cid felt detached from her. He didn¡¯t like this feeling.

However, Shera, for being with him for a really long time, read his mind by just looking at his face. She put down her notepad, and walked over to him. She lightly put her hand on his shoulder and spoke.

¡°Cid, I know how you are feeling right now. Yes, I do love science, and that¡¯s why I¡¯ve became a scientist. But this love is totally different from the one I have for you. I love you more than anything in this world.¡±

¡°More than science?¡± Cid questioned with a tone and expression, as if pouting kid is speaking to his mother. Shera just had to smile at that expression. 

¡°Yes, I love you more than I love science.¡± Cid was relieved and he smiled with her.

¡°Professor Highwind, the project just proceeded into its final stage. We require your presence at the laboratory.¡± An ebony haired young subordinate of hers, Brian, called her to attention.

¡°Thank you, Brian. I¡¯ll the there in a second.¡± Shera grabbed Cid¡¯s hand and dragged him over to the hidden laboratory. Just like the other rooms, there was a big test tube glowing with mako and gooey organic stuff in it. But this time, the form looked quite ordinary ? too ordinary to be a summon.

¡°Holy #^$*&%@!!! It¡¯s a human!¡±

Cid turned to face Shera, seized her shoulders and shook her hard.

¡°What were you thinking Shera?! What the $%&*# were you thinking? If you keep on doing experiments like this you are repeating the mistake Hojo made in the past! Stop this at once!¡±

¡°Cid, Cid. Calm down, and listen to me.¡±

Shera hurriedly pushed him back a bit and tried her best to calm him down.

¡°There¡¯s no way I¡¯m going to repeat the mistakes. Humans tend to learn from it, and I will, too. Besides, that¡¯s not a human. Technically, that is would-be-summon ? well, soon enough ? and it has the form and DNA of the legendary beings, the sorceresses.¡±

Cid couldn¡¯t think of anything to say. All he did was open his mouth to say something and didn¡¯t close it for the next 10 minutes.

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Author¡¯s Note: Hello, to the poor readers who have decided to torture themselves by reading my boring fiction. Well, and I have one thing to say to you. Thank you for doing so. I know this chapter sucked ? unless you liked bit of Cid & Shera¡¯s love story ? but it will get more interesting once the main character is introduced. Um... unfortunately for the people who hate Rinoa, this fiction will have her for the main character. And yes, in FF7 world. Oops, is this going to be spoiler? I hope not. And another main character is Yuffie who is my favorite character. For a lot of Sephiroth fans, I¡¯m sorry but this is set after Meteor, and I don¡¯t intend to bring him back to life, even with Shera¡¯s skills. And almost main characters in game ? like Cloud ? will appear as an extra. If you don¡¯t like how certain part is flowing, please tell me, ¡®cuz I¡¯ll try to change it. Hmp, I don¡¯t wanna give to too much spoiler by just talking on and on like this. So, please comment. I don¡¯t care if it¡¯s flame. Just send me something. And I thank you again for reading my fiction. Bye! Please read next chapter, too! ~ ^ ^ Allin Aspire


	2. Revival

Red Orb ****

Red Orb

__

Allin Aspire

¡¡

Type: crossover FF7 X FF8

Author¡¯s note: Hey, last time I forgot to put disclaimer. Well, here it is.

I don¡¯t own any characters in FF7 and FF8, - they belong to Square Soft - and me don¡¯t have any right over it. Except over this fiction. This fic. is mine, so I can do whatever I want! (Mwahahahaha!)

Um... I didn¡¯t meant to do that.. That was Sephy¡¯s laughter... _ He¡¯s gonna kill me... I¡¯ll quickly write and run away. Please, enjoy the fic.

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Chapter 2.

Revival

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The laboratory, which was meant to be a quiet working area where scientific experiment went on, just changed into a chaotic place with an almost-going-crazy-guy and his-¡®everything-is-fine¡¯-wife.

¡°CID!!!! Just SHUT UP and LISTEN to me!!!!¡± Shera finally yelled out.

Everybody who was working in the lab, including Cid, stopped and stared at her. Because Shera rarely raised her voice or used informal words, so everybody was stunned that she actually said those words.

¡°Now, that¡¯s better. Everyone, go back to what you were doing, please. And you, Cid, have to listen to me. If you do this every single time you come into my lab, I¡¯ll ban you from coming here.¡±

At the moment she mentioned about banning him from the lab, he closed his mouth shut. He always made a big fuss about why he had to come to this boring place everyday, but he actually enjoyed visiting Shera while she worked. That shut him up.

¡°Cid, that object in the test tube will be a sorceress, and I know she was a dangerous being in the past, but not all sorceress were bad. Also, if they are made into a summon, they won¡¯t do any harm to people. You know that summons have to obey the people who summoned them. Besides, the sorceress is really powerful. What is so wrong with having a strong ally?¡± Shera explained to him with her typical scientific ways.

¡°You¡¯ve got a point there. Anyway, who is she? There are a lot of sorceresses, you know?¡± Cid inquired to change the topic.

¡°I¡¯m not so sure, Cid. That organic substance has _sorceresses¡¯ _DNA, not from a sorceress. So it is totally up to her to pick her form and ability.¡±

¡°Hmp. Then any scientific guesses?¡±

¡°Well, I believe she¡¯ll pick the most strongest form of all, like Hein who is considered as goddess, or Ultimecia.¡± Shera talked about those sorceresses, as-a-matter-of-factedly.

Cid shuddered as soon as he heard that name.

¡°Well, if I have that kind of summon, I¡¯ll be scared to use it. It¡¯s like putting Sephiroth in a summon.¡±

Then he shuddered once again. ¡°That¡¯s even more creeper than I thought.

¡°Professor Highwind, the project has entered T-10 minutes. I believe you should come and supervise it yourself.¡± Her faithful Brian informed her once again.

¡°Cid, do you want to watch? If you are going to make big fuss about it, I won¡¯t let you stay. Do you promise will behave?¡± Shera asked him after hearing from Brian.

¡°I guess it¡¯s better for me to leave. I¡¯ll wait for you outside.¡± Cid decided to step out, because even he didn¡¯t know what he would do if he actually see a sorceress.

¡°Thank you, Cid...¡±

After Cid left, all was under control. The organic substance in the test tube was slowly developing fine detail of a human. By the clock entered T-4, Shera was able to tell which legendary sorceress it was.

¡°Rinoa Heartily.¡± Shera quietly whispered.

¡°So she¡¯s the legendary sorceress Rinoa Heartily?¡± Brian asked her with a note pad in his hand.

¡°This is quite interesting, Brian. I thought she¡¯s take form as Ultimecia, who was so strong and once threat the world on her own. But, Rinoa... She was just an ordinary - and stubborn - girl, until she inherited power from Adel and Edea. Just imagine how strong she¡¯d be, when she inherited power from, not just one, but two sorceresses. And she is the future Ultimecia. I wonder why she didn¡¯t just start off as Ultimecia. She must have been at least five times stronger than this form.¡±

¡°I guess it was absolutely up to her choice as you said.¡± Brian told her in a tone which showed his faith in her and her project. Shera smile to him.

¡°I guess it was. Now, how much time do we have?¡±

¡°We¡¯ve just entered T-2, Profes...¡±

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¡°~ Beep Beep Beep !!¡±

The loud beeping alarm and warning red light stopped Brian in his mid sentence. Shera¡¯s crew of scientists and workers started to panic, and were dashing everywhere to get things back under control.

Brian, too, was running to the main manual control panel, which was managing the condition of the sorceress. And Shera followed after him.

He quickly but calmly typed in security codes and scanned the sorceress¡¯ physical and mental condition.

¡°How is she? What¡¯s wrong?¡± Shera asked in anticipation.

¡°She... she¡¯s gaining conscience, Professor. At this rate she¡¯ll wake up fully before T-45 seconds.¡±

¡°Will she resist from being inside the Summon Materia?¡± 

¡°That... I¡¯m not so sure... I¡¯m sorry, Professor Highwind.¡± He told her very apologetically.

¡°... it¡¯s okay, Brian... We¡¯ll just have to wait and see...¡±

¡¡

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Too cold...

And I¡¯m alone. I hate this feeling.

I want to wake up.

I wish when I opened my eyes, Squall would be watching me...

And tell me, it¡¯s okay. It was just a dream...

¡¡

¡®She¡¯s awakening. A sorceress is revived, as a summon. But, what if she resist and escape? Did I really make a mistake, like what Cid said? Should I have listen to him?¡¯

While waiting for the final stage to finish in success, Shera¡¯s head was filled with the questions that cannot be answered. This was the first time in her life that she was truly confused.

¡°We¡¯ve just entered T-1 minutes, and counting.¡± Brian¡¯s emotionless voice startled her.

¡®He doesn¡¯t know. Actually, no citizens know what kind of havoc can a single sorceress create within a day. They were part of myth and I revived one of them. What am I going to do?¡¯ Shera¡¯s thoughts were reaching into deeper consequences which she hadn¡¯t thought about before. She thought it was just another creature, being put in a materia. But this wasn¡¯t just another creature. It was a sorceress. She greatly underestimated her power. And once Shera realized her mistake and what could happen as a result, unbearable fear attacked her. She couldn¡¯t move. She couldn¡¯t even blink her eyes, and they were fixed on the test tube, which contains what could be the weapon to destroy everyone¡¯s future.

¡°T-45 seconds...¡±

That was the time sorceress was supposed to be fully awaken. Shera relaxed a bit in relief. But tension in her mind grew stronger, and praying nothing would happen until the time is up and the project is done.

¡°T-30 seconds... subject stabilizing...¡±

That words sounded like an angel¡¯s herald to Shera. She relaxed further, but her eyes still gazing into the glowing green test tube. 

¡°T-20 seconds... no abnormal status detected...¡±

Just a few more seconds... just a few more seconds... That all she could think of at the moment.

¡°T-15 seconds... no spec... the subject raised its arm! IT¡¯S AWAKE!¡±

Shera just wanted to collapse down on the ground and not move. She felt that this experiment was a failure. However, she couldn¡¯t give up, just yet. She hurriedly ran over to the control panel and increased the amount of mako flowing into the tube.

The sorceress seemed to slow her movement for a moment, but with greater power she swung her arm and smashed her fist on to the glass of the tube. With cracking sound, the test tube begin to pour out mako from here and there.

¡°T-8 seconds! Professor Highwind! What do we do?! What should I...

Shera couldn¡¯t do anything. She froze stiffly on the spot she was standing. She didn¡¯t want any more of this crazy experiment. She just wanted to go back home with Cid. Just like that, she watched as the sorceress gathered her power in the palm of her hand to blast the test tube and the entire laboratory.

¡®This is it... I¡¯m not going to make it. How foolish was I to believe that I could revive a sorceress and keep her under control... My only regret is not being able to tell good bye to Cid...¡¯

T-3 seconds

The sorceress blasted the test tube and destroying some of the equipment placed directly in front. Great amount of mako poured straight down onto the lab floor.

T-2 seconds

The sorceress stepped out and coughed briefly in agonized face. Then she realized her nakedness and grabbed a white gown near by.

T-1 second

The sorceress looked directly into Shera¡¯s eyes. There was no malice, or evil, what so ever. Only confusion. Just like what Shera felt a few moments ago. But something else she saw was... incomprehensible...

Time was up.

The main computer shut down all the electricity and mako flow to prevent bigger accident. Scientists and workers already fled or trying to stay as far away as possible from the sorceress. The deafening alarm grew louder.

The sorceress was standing in front of a window. She was examining how high it was. Then Cid, who was alarmed by worker who ran off, busted inside. That seemed to scare her. She broke the window with her arm and jumped. Cid briefly glanced at her and ran towards me.

That moment, I thought I saw a white feather...

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Author¡¯s Note: Hiya! Did you enjoy it? I personally liked this chapter. The count down part was interesting to write. Um.. some of you might notice that crucial information in this fic. that Rinoa is future Ultimecia. Well, it¡¯s not confirmed fact, but I like that concept. Although you don¡¯t have to worry, because that¡¯s not the main concept. I probably won¡¯t mention it again. I hope you liked it and please review and please stick around for the third chapter! Thank you for reading!


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